A Study on Impact of Dividend Policy and Stock Price Volatility on Health Care Market

Our target to be reached through this research to measure the impact of the strength of electronic rumours circulating through social networking sites on the demand of the consumer for foodstuffs in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. For which purpose, analysis has been made for the dimensions of both electronic rumours and social networking sites, in addition to the demand for foodstuffs in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, based on the field study using the questionnaire that has been distributed to a specific sample consisting of 394 consumers using one of the social networking sites, the study demonstrated the existence of a statistically significant effect of the electronic rumours on the consumer demand for foodstuffs in light of such pandemic. More to the point, this study attributed that effect to three factors pertaining to the nature of the electronic rumours and the means of their distribution, in addition to factors relating to the consumer personality, and other factors associated with the environmental conditions created by the pandemic in terms of economic, social and psychological aspects. Furthermore, amongst the most important of such factors, we uncover: the relative importance of rumours with regards to the consumer, and the degree of ambiguity that distinguished the crisis period about the measures taken by government to cope with the crisis, along with the degree of credibility and confidence that the consumer allocates to those rumours, in addition to the spread of anxiety and stress resulting from the crisis in question.

Book Review: Care and Capitalism

Lynch, Kathleen Care and Capitalism, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2022;248 pp.: ISBN 9781509543837, $28.95 Kathleen Lynch's I Care and Capitalism i presents on the diversified dimensions of the manifold relationship between care and capitalism. Chapter 10 and concluding remarks clarify the possibilities of care-oriented resistance to capitalism and the potential lessons drawn from the Covid-19 experience. Chapter 7 analyzes other ideologies of capitalism that can potentially harm a care-based culture. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Capital & Class is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Missed Opportunity: The West Baltimore Opportunity Zones Story

This paper presents a qualitative evaluation of how Opportunity Zones (OZs) have attracted capital and economic development to highly distressed neighborhoods in West Baltimore. Based on 76 interviews with community and government officials, program managers, developers, businesses, and fund managers, we assess the strengths and weaknesses of OZs in West Baltimore and Baltimore City. We find that OZs are stimulating new investment conversations and building local economic development capacity. However, we also find OZs fail at oversight and community engagement, do not spur new development, and are a missed opportunity to incentivize actors and institutions critical to revitalizing distressed neighborhoods. To spur development in distressed neighborhoods, OZs require reporting standards, the removal of non-distressed census tracts, dollars for education and infrastructure, the incorporation of Community Development Financial Institutions, and incentives for non-capital gains holding investors.

The Impact of Qualified Opportunity Zones on Existing Single-Family House Prices

Established by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA),1 qualified Opportunity Zones (OZs) are a new place-based community development program that attempts to help economically challenged areas by encouraging private capital investment through the use of tax incentives. Although the program started at the beginning of 2018, implementation of the program has been slow, creating challenges for investors. The program's structure may have also inadvertently created an environment ripe for surging property prices. This unintended consequence has the potential to reduce or eliminate investor tax benefits, stimulate community gentrification, and diminish affordability for residents. Recent studies have found evidence of material price "premiums" for some commercial real estate properties located in OZs (Pierzak, 2021;Sage, Langen, and Van de Minne, 2019). Recognizing the policy's potential in driving increased investor interest in single-family home rentals, the authors of this study explore the impact of the program on existing single-family house prices and find that the community development program has led to excess home price appreciation totaling 6.8 percent from 2018 to 2020.

Classifying Opportunity Zones - A Model-Based Clustering Approach

Objective: Opportunity Zones (OZs) are the first major place-based economic development policy from the federal government in nearly two decades. To date, confusion persists among planners and policymakers in some places as to what features of OZ tracts matter for their inclusion, and, secondly, what features of OZ tracts make them attractive targets for potential investment. The authors developed a typology of OZ tracts in order to offer planners and policymakers alternative ways of organizing a highly variable set of tracts. Methods: This study employs model-based clustering, also known as latent class analysis, to develop a typology OZ tracts from the population of all eligible tracts in the United States. The authors use publicly available data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Urban Institute in developing the typology. Descriptive statistics and graphics are presented on the clusters. Using Portland, Oregon, as an example city, the authors present a cartographic exploration of the resulting typology. Results: OZs present with immense variation across clusters. Some clusters, specifically cluster 3 and 9, are less poor, have a greater number of jobs and higher development potential than other clusters. Additionally, these exceptional clusters have disproportionate rates of final OZ designation compared to other clusters. In Portland, these less distressed clusters make up the majority of ultimately designated OZ tracts in the city and are concentrated in the downtown area compared to the more deprived eastern part of the city. Conclusions: We find that OZ designation is disproportionately seen in particular clusters that are relatively less deprived than the larger population of eligible tracts. Cluster analysis as well as other forms of exploratory or inductive analyses can offer planners and policymakers a better understanding of their local development context as well as offering a more coherent understanding of a widely variant set of tracts. OZs, the newest federal government place-based economic development tool since the New Markets Tax Credit in the early 2000s, has reportedly marshaled more than $50 billion in investment in the 2 years since its passage (Drucker and Tipton, 2019). Opportunity zones allow investors to defer taxes on their capital gains if they invest in qualified Opportunity Zone funds in development-starved census tracts. Recent investigations show a disproportionate amount of investment being steered into a minority of tracts that formally qualified for the program based on their income but are not suffering from a lack of development (Buhayar and Leatherby, 2019;Drucker and Lipton, 2019;Ernsthausen and Elliott, 2019). A central tension in those articles concerning Opportunity Zone investment is that the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 used a broad qualifying rule for Opportunity Zone designation based only on tract income to maximize flexibility. It resulted in variations within designated Opportunity Zones in terms of their socioeconomic characteristics but also redevelopment attractiveness. An important issue for economic development researchers and analysts is to find alternative ways of organizing Opportunity Zones into more useful categories of analysis than simply qualified or non-qualified Opportunity Zone designations. This paper presents model-based clustering, also known as latent class analysis. This unsupervised machine learning technique is one way to address the difficulties of classifying designated Opportunity Zone tracts. The remainder of this article will offer background on some troubling OZ issues, a description of latent class analysis through model-based clustering, and the results of cluster analysis and its relationship with Opportunity Zone designation. The findings contribute to a better understanding of the variation of eligible tracts and what features make the zones attractive for designation.

Enhancing Returns from Opportunity Zone Projects by Combining Federal, State, and Local Tax Incentives to Bolster Community Impact

Skeptics may call the federal Opportunity Zone (OZ) program a tax dodge for the wealthy, but there is strong bipartisan support for the program at the federal, state, and local levels. Furthermore, underserved communities (and the small businesses therein) could benefit from billions of dollars in new investments in long-term capital that they might not have received through conventional bank loans or government programs-especially given the current unique and challenging economy. The findings noted in this article are based on the authors' presupposition that President Biden's proposed tax increases have increased interest in the deferral and ultimate tax exemption aspects of the OZ program, and investment momentum is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. The authors' data and interviews show that because the OZ program is not structured for real estate speculators and flippers to trade during the OZ reinvestment period, the long-term investment requirement of the OZ program makes it stand out from other place-based incentive programs that have generally failed to live up to expectations. Furthermore, the authors dispute the notion that the OZ program only benefits real estate investors. They believe that OZ investments have funded hundreds of clean energy projects, biotechnology and medical infrastructure projects, active businesses, solar energy projects, and many successful public-private partnerships. The authors also show that Congress placed no limits on the amount of federal, state, and local tax benefits, grants, or other incentives that can be layered into the OZ investment. As a result, OZ structures are being used in combination with Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects, New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) projects, Historical Tax Credit (HTC) projects, research and development, solar energy, cost segregation, and other alternative energy projects that generate accelerated depreciation and credits. This is generally referred to as "twinning" of various tax programs. The authors anticipate further extensions of the OZ investment window that will give taxpayers and fund managers sufficient time to make important investment decisions that result in significant economic impact for underserved communities. How many other economic development initiatives can generate win-win results for underserved communities, municipalities, small businesses, and investors alike?

Debt relief: Tax inconvenience for companies already in financial distress

Orientation: The Income Tax Act has tax consequences for both the debtor and the creditor when a debt is waived as a result of a concession or compromise. This article focuses on the income tax implications for the debtor. Research purpose: Even though symmetry is achieved when calculating the tax implications for the debtor, it causes inconvenience and economic hardship. The research identified examples of where deferral relief has been granted in the Income Tax Act , and this is used as a motivation to extend similar relief for the distressed debtor. Motivation for the study: Companies were already trading under tough economic conditions before the advent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) The pandemic has compounded the situation and introduced new challenges;hence, debt waivers have become increasingly prevalent. Research approach/design and method: A qualitative research methodology was applied using the doctrinal approach in conducting the research. Main findings: Where a debt is waived in a company that is already in financial distress, this may lead to a recoupment and or capital gains that trigger immediate tax consequences for the company. Practical/managerial implications: The recoupment and/or capital gain, which is subject to tax, creates undue hardship, inconvenience on the already distressed debtor and further impacts the ability of South African Revenue Service (SARS) to collect the tax debt. Contribution/value-add: The authors seek to rectify the identified problem by suggesting that a legislative amendment be introduced to allow the distressed taxpayer relief through a deferral of inclusion in taxable income.